After losing their first Foothill League game of the year last week to Hart in four sets, Valencia girls’ volleyball rebounded on Tuesday for the win to beat Canyon on the road.
Valencia defeated the Cowboys in four sets, 25-18, 25-21, 23-25, 25-13 for their first league win and second victory of the season.
“We knew Canyon is very tough,” head coach Kristin Dolan said. “They’ve continued to build every year, and they have a great squad, so it feels good to come out and play well against a great opponent.”
The Vikings (2-5, 1-1) began with an early 19-12 lead over Canyon (2-15, 0-2) in the first set. And Valencia would capitalize off the Cowboys’ offensive mistakes.
Valencia won the first set by a comfortable margin after a hitting error from Canyon’s offense went out of bounds.
In the opening plays of the second set, Valencia took an early 3-0 lead over Canyon after a Mai’ana Untalan ace. Canyon rallied back and tied the set at 4 apiece after an Olvia Turner kill.
Both teams would trade leads, and the second set would be a back-and-forth battle between the two teams.
Tied at 19 apiece, a Canyon offensive error resulted in Valencia taking the lead, and before Canyon could fight back the Vikings never gave it back. Untalan delivered a clutch kill to take a 21-19 lead and served an ace on her next serve to extend the lead over the Cowboys.
“She’s our ball control queen, passing, defense, shots on the hitting. It’s nice having someone that’s so sound with her ball control.” Dolan said.
Valencia won the second set, 25-21, after McKenzie Garcia ended the set with an explosive kill.
Facing a potential sweep in straight sets, Canyon came out of the huddle in the third set with lots of energy.
The Cowboys would find themselves down 5-3 after a kill from Valencia’s Kai Howard but Canyon fought back to tie the set at 5 apiece after a Viking serving error and Parys Taylor kill.
Canyon went on a 12-6 scoring run over Valencia and took a 17-11 lead after a block from Turner landed back on the Vikings’ side.
Valencia fought back to tie the set again at 21 after a net violation from Canyon. But despite tying the set, Canyon would rally for the win in the third after a hitting error from Valencia’s Kayla Rust.
In the fourth set Valencia and Canyon again exchanged leads but Valencia would rally behind the momentum from an ace of Kai Howard to make it 6-4. The Vikings took a 10-6 lead thanks to a Rust kill and never looked back.
“Kayla’s actually been out with an injury,” Dolan said “This is her first match back, and we’re just super excited to have her back. She’s kind of like our high-flying hitter, and it’s nice to have her back in the offense.”
Valencia would win the fourth set, 25-13, after a kill from Nyla Willstead, sealing the victory for the Vikings
The Vikings won’t have too much time to celebrate their first league win of the year as the team hits the road for a back-to-back game Wednesday with a matchup against Saugus.
Despite the quick turnaround, Dolan and her team are ready for Saugus and she says they’ve already been preparing for the game against the defending Foothill League champions.
“We’re trying to be ahead of the game,” Dolan said. “We have already talked about them and already have a game plan going into that game. You know, all we just got to do is show up and do what we can on our side.”
Valencia travels to Saugus High School with the game set to begin at 5 p.m.
